Absolutely Fashionable! mannequins Fern, Beryl, Kesi, Mariposa, Mercedes, Violet, Pearl, and Phyllis came to New York's SOHO2O gallery to strut their stuff before an over-sized disposable camera. Seeking to land a cover or endorsement campaign, they turned some heads. For Violet and Mercedes there may be go-sees. Phyllis and Fern are more optimistic.

"I almost got spun around. The crush at our reception was unbelievable," Phyllis remarked. "But if I get a call back from the designer who saw my picture in Gallery Guide I could end up with a long term engagement in Philly, so I don't mind."

"This was no spoof of a fashion shoot for me," exclaimed Fern. "I got quoted by a downtown journalist who e-mailed me about a rumor she heard. She printed my comments in her paper, The Villager. Who knows where that might lead?"

A tongue-in-cheek look at the ubiquitous fashion "shoot", Absolutely Fashionable! is the creation of artist Jennifer Woolcock Schwartz. In the real world the show was installed at SOHO2O Gallery, New York City, in February. It featured eight hand-painted fiberglass mannequins suspended from the ceiling of the gallery (literally hanging around waiting to be photographed), a wall of head shots, an over-sized disposable camera and professional lighting equipment.

The virtual world offers Absolutely Fashionable! mannequins new exposure opportunities. Click here to see a sample page from Absolutely Fashionable!'s web site.

Beryl expressed enthusiasm at the news that the show is now available to the world in a 360 degree walkthrough. "I may come from Kansas, but you don't have to click your heels together to know that the only way to succeed in this business is to keep putting yourself out there."

In a 360 degree walkthrough, a viewer, by moving the mouse inside a specially photographed image, can see the installation as if walking around in it.

Popular Mannequin Kesi Urges Her Online Fans to Keep Writing.

"No way I'm going back to the horse farm," said popular model Kesi. "Fans can still get up close and personal with me and the other mannequins. We love talking to real people. Have a fashion emergency? Need a beauty tip? Wish to share your hopes and dreams? A click of the mouse will take you to our individual pages. E-mail us. I promise we’ll write back."

A Model’s Life in Brief

A model’s life is hectic, composed of go-sees (auditions), tear sheets (magazine advertisement pullouts), head sheets (vital statistics), agencies, bookers, and vouchers. The vouchers are very important. Without them you don’t get paid.

You are attached to your agency by a strong, umbilical cord. Without the agency there are no go-sees, no career development, and definitely no money.

In the old days, all a girl needed was to be 5’9", 120 lbs, have a great face with the right bone structure, super skin, and legs that don’t quit. Now, you need a personality too. It’s a dog eat dog world. Fortunately, all Absolutely Fashionable! girls wear their personalities on their skin.

Every mother’s dream is to have a child in med school. Well, guess what Mom? You don’t have to be a supermodel to make more than the average doctor. However, your shelf-life is shorter and the competition is intense.